Retrofeminist of the Night

By David Shields

Published: November 2, 2003

'Hi!'

Delilah says. ''Welcome aboard. I'm so glad that you found us. If you're a newcomer to this show, you're probably wondering what in the world this is all about. Well, it's not about politics. It's not about wars going on around the world. It's not about trials and tribulations in the national sense of security. It's about you. It's about your heart. It's about what in the world is going on in your world. We are here for you each weeknight to take your calls about family, friends, sweethearts, that special someone you met over the Internet, falling in love, having your heart broken by love, babies and graduations. And then we mix those stories together with your favorite love songs. Thank you for finding us. You're listening to Delilah.''

Sandy asks Delilah to dedicate Regina Belle's ''If I Could'' to ''my three boys. They have been the greatest gift from God to me. I've been a single parent for 12 years, and their father does not keep in touch with them, but we started from the beginning to tell each other that we would do this together, and we did. We pulled through.''

When a caller named Helen mentions having a baby with her fiancé, who's in Kuwait, Delilah says, ''When are we getting married?''

Helen replies, ''We haven't set a date yet, but we're going to start planning as soon as he gets home.'' Delilah plays Selena's ''Dreaming of You.''

To a young woman who is still stuck on her ex-boyfriend, Delilah says, more than once, ''I hate it when that happens.''

Delilah -- who, as any icon seeking goddess status must do, goes only by one name -- discusses how your kids can drive you crazy, especially during the summer; it's important, she says, to step back and remember how much you love them.

Kirsten calls and says about her son, ''Our little guy's a special-needs guy.''

''Aren't we all special-needs in one way or another?'' Delilah says, before playing Whitney Houston's ''Greatest Love of All.''

Delilah advises Kathy, who's shy about approaching the former security guard she's in love with: ''What happens if you don't follow through with this and he gets away again? Say: 'Thank you for alerting me to the fact that my headlight was broken. I owe you my life. Here's a plate of cookies and my phone number at home. And my cellphone and my pager number and my fax number and my e-mail address.' Come on, Kathy, shoulders back. Be bold. Be brave.'' Then she plays Mariah Carey's ''Dreamlover.''

'Delilah,'' which is recorded live in Seattle and is broadcast between 7 and midnight in most markets, has nearly six million listeners on 204 stations in all 50 states, covering roughly 94 percent of the country. But Delilah is in only 5 of the Top 10 big-city markets; she skews small-town and middle America. Seventy-four of Delilah's affiliates are No. 1 with women ages 25 to 54, including stations in Cleveland, Orlando, Wichita, Minneapolis, Louisville and Austin.

According to Compendia Media, one Midwestern law firm had to withdraw its commercial from Delilah's show because it couldn't handle the business its ad drummed up. Fans at a bookstore in Louisville wouldn't let Delilah leave, even after five hours of signing copies of her book ''Love Someone Today.'' (Delilah has also released several themed compilation CD's: ''My Child,'' three volumes of ''Love Someone,'' ''Wedding Collections'' and ''Love Someone at Christmas.'') And when she endorsed Bissell vacuum cleaners, Bissell outlets across the country were besieged by customers. Several years ago, Bob Carlisle's father-daughter ballad, ''Butterfly Kisses,'' was getting very little airplay except on Christian radio; Delilah put the song into heavy rotation, helping the album go double platinum.

Dick Fennessy, onetime program director for WFPG in Atlantic City, has said that ''Delilah'' had an ''unbelievable'' impact on his station when he worked there. ''In every female demographic, we doubled the numbers. We were No. 1 in women 25 to 54 and No. 1 in 35 to 64. Need I say more?'' The show gets 100,000 call-in attempts and more than 1,000 e-mail messages a night; as many as 300 calls get through to a screener; 25 calls make it on the air.

Who are these people, and why are they all calling Delilah?

''Every one of our affiliate stations was established and exists to reach women 25 to 54,'' Delilah said. ''I have mammary glands. I lost a grandmother to breast cancer. My executive producer'' -- Jane Bulman -- ''has two sisters who have been diagnosed with breast cancer just this year. We are single parents. We understand the frustration of having to get up at 3 a.m. because your child is puking their guts out, plus you have to fix breakfast at 7 for the other kids, get them to school, take care of the pets and get yourself to work. We shop at Target and Wal-Mart. Janey and I are that audience.'' Though she owns property near Puget Sound, Delilah lives in a ramshackle house in White Center, which is nicknamed Rat City (the area has a gritty reputation dating back to World War II), parts of which have the highest crime rate of any neighborhood in King County.